Knee support

ABSTRACT

A knee support adapted to strengthen and protect injured knees. The support is particularly adapted for use by athletes. The support includes an elastic sleeve and an elastic covering which aid in strengthening the knee by retaining all of the tendons, ligaments, cartilage and muscles firmly in place. Coiled tubes of rubber are positioned between the elastic sleeve and the elastic casing, and are positioned above, below and on the sides of the kneecap when the device is worn. The coiled rubber tubes absorb any shock that may be inflicted on the knee, thereby protecting the injured knee.

United States Patent Brabazon [4 1 July 18, 1972 s41 KNEE SUPPORT3,513,842 5/1970 Keenan a u. .......l28/l65 x [72] lnventor: JohnBrabuon, 1207 W. Bristol Road, mm Tm wmnste" 18974 Attorney-Caesar,Rivise, Bernstein & Cohen 22 F'l d: an. 4 I971 l 3 51 ABSTRACT [2]]Appl' No" 10 ,6 A knee support adapted to strengthen and protect injuredknees. The support is particularly adapted for use by athletes. [52] US.Cl. ..l28/80 C, 128/ I65, 2/24 The support includes an elastic sleeveand an elastic covering [51] Int. Cl. A61! 3/00 which aid instrengthening the knee by retaining all of the ten- [58] Fleld of Search128/80 C, 165, 400, 402; 2/24 dons. ig m n l ge n mu cles firmly inplace. Coiled 1 tubes of rubber are positioned between the elasticsleeve and f Cited the elastic casing, and are positioned above, belowand on the [56] Re sides of the kneecap when the device is worn. Thecoiled UNITED STATES PATENTS rubber tubes absorb any shock that may beinflicted on the knee, thereby protecting the injured knee. 267,435 l1/1882 Leiter ..l28/400 X 871,760- ll/l907 Long ..2/24

mad an-magn m PATENTED JUL 1 8 I972 SHEET 3 OF 3 MIME/V70 JOHN J.BRABAZON KNEE SUPPORT This invention relates to a knee support, and moreparticularly, to a knee support that is adapted to strengthen andprotect an injured knee joint.

One of the common injuries suffered by athletes, such as football,basketball or soccer players, is a knee joint injury. The injury cantake various forms, such as sprained or strained muscles, torn ligamentsand torn cartilage. Quite often these injuries require surgery whichprevents the athlete from continuing the playing of his sport. Afterhealing has progressed to a predetermined point, the athlete can againplay his sport providing some protective measures are can'ied out tosupport the knee and to prevent re-injury to the knee.

One of the methods now used to aid an athlete that has injured his kneeis to tape the knee. One of the shortcomings of this method is that itis time-consuming in that it must be car ried out each time the athleteis going to play. Additionally, continual taping and untaping of theknee can cause a skin irritation.

A device that is in common usage for athletes having injured knees is asleeve of elastic material. The elastic material of the place, while atthe same time permitting the athlete to flex his knee so that he canengage in his sport in a normal manner. Although the elastic sleeves aresatisfactory for this purpose, they suffer from the shortcoming thatthey do not prevent further injury to the knee in the event the knee issubjected to a sudden shock. This problem is particularly acute withfootball players and basketball players.

In order to overcome the deficiencies of the elastic sleeves, variousshock-absorbing knee supports have been developed. One of the mostcommon of this type of knee support includes the provision of foamrubber over the elastic sleeve. Other knee supports are formed fromrigid plates. The foam rubber knee supports have been found to beinadequate because they are not sufficiently strong to absorb severeshocks, such as would occur when a football player is tackled. The rigidplate supports also suffer from the deficiency that they inhibit theathlete from complete mobility and flexibility in running and othermovements. 1

The knee support of this invention overcomes all of the problems of theprior art knee supports, while at the same time giving completeflexibility to the knee joint. Accordingly, the device of this inventionwill not interfere with the normal movement of the limb, while at thesame time giving support to an unstable knee resulting from injury andprotecting the knee against re-injury.

It is accordingly an object of this novel knee support.

It is another object of this invention to provide a knee support thatsupports and injured knee and protects the knee from re-injury.

These and other objects of this invention are accomplished by providinga knee support comprising an elastic sleeve and a plurality ofshock-absorbing means secured on said sleeve, said shock-absorbing meanseach comprising a coil of hollow rubber tubing.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the four elements of the kneesupport of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the device of this invention aspositioned on the right knee;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the knee support of this inventionas positioned on the right knee;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG.

invention to provide a FIG. 5 is a side elevational view, similar toFIG. 2, but showing the outer member partly broken away in order toillustrate the next lower layer of the knee support of this invention;

sleeve holds the ligaments, muscles, tendons and cartilage in FIG. 6 isa side elevational view similar to FIG. 5, but with the layer of FIG. 5partially broken away to show the next lower layer of the device of thisinvention;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of one of the rubber tube coils used inthe device of this invention; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG.7, and enlarged to show the reduced opening of each end of the rubbertubing forming the coils of the device of this invention.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawingswherein like reference characters refer to like parts, a knee supportembodying the present invention is generally shown at 10 in FIG. 2. Asseen in FIG. 1, device 10 basically comprises four superimposed layers,with the lowest layer 12 comprising an elastic sleeve, the next layer 14comprising four coils of rubber tubes, the next layer 16 comprising awrapped elastic strap, and the top layer 18 comprising a casing.

Sleeve 12 is formed from a knitted elastic tubular fabric. The diameterof the sleeve is sufficiently small to have the sleeve closely confinethe leg of the user.

The rubber coils 14 are formed from rubber tubes that are wound into thehelical coils shown in FIG. 1. As seen in FIG. 1, the tubes crossbetween the four coils. The tubes are positioned on the sleeve 12, whichis shown in phantom at 12, and are held in place thereon, as bystitching. As seen in FIG. 8, the ends of the rubber tubes forming coils14 are partially closed, thereby leaving a constricted opening 20. Theconstricted opening can be formed by heat sealing a portion of the openends of the tube or by adhesive. The constricted openings 20 arepositioned at the center of each of the helical coils of rubber tubing.

After the rubber coils 14 are placed on sleeve 12, they are covered byan elastic strap 16. The strapping is wound around the coils and issecured in place against sleeve 12, as by stitching.

After the strap 16 has been stitched in place, the assembly comprisingthe sleeve 12, coils l4 and strap 16 is inserted in case 18. Case 18 canbe formed by cutting a tubular elastic sleeve or by rolling a flatelastic sheet. The case '18 includes a pair of abutting edges to whichare secured eyelet strips 22. After the case 18 has been wrapped aroundthe inner assembly of the knee support it is stitched in place, andlacing 24 is threaded through the eyelet strips.

The device of this invention is shown in FIG. 2 as being positioned on aright leg 26. In order to place the device 10 on the leg, lacing 24 isloosened within the eyelet strips 22. Thereafter, the foot is insertedin sleeve 12 and the knee support 10 is pulled vertically up the leg.When the knee support is in the position shown in FIG. 2, the lacing 24is pulled taut, and tied. This places a firm pressure on the injuredknee joint.

In FIG. 2, the bones forming the knee joint are shown in phantom. Thus,the knee joint comprises the femur or thighbone 28 and the tibia orShinbone 30. Stability and support for this joint are provided by fourligaments, two cartilages, various tendons and sheets of tissue. AlsoshOwn in FIGS. 2 and 3 are the patella or kneecap 32 and the fibula 34,which is the smaller leg bone.

Injuries to the knee joint usually result from two causes. A player maytwist the knee with his foot firmly planted on the playing surface,causing a cartilage to tear. The far more serious type of injury is thetorn ligament, which is usually attributed to a direct blow from theside or the rear. The injuries sometimes heal by themselves, or healingcan be aided by surgery. However, during the healing process, thestrength, endurance and agility of the leg are lessened.

It has been found that players with knee injuries can continue to playthe sport if an external stabilizing medium is applied to the joint. Themost commonly used of the knee supports for this purpose compriseelastic sleeves. These sleeves give sufficient support to the knee topermit the player to move with a fair degree of agility and flexibilityof the knee. However, the elastic sleeves provide no protection to theknee against further injury. In the device of this invention, the

coiled tubes of rubber 24 provide the necessary protection for thedamaged knee joint while the knee joint is healing. As best seen in FIG.6, the tubes 14 are positioned above and below and on the sides of thekneecap or patella 32. Thus, the tubes will not interfere with thenormal flexing of the knee joint. However, a blow to any area around thepatella will be received by the coils 14. Because of the resilientnature of the rubber forming the coils, they will readily absorb theshock of the blow. Additionally, the air within the coils is slowlyexpelled through the constricted openings at the center of each coil.This further enables the coils to absorb the shock of the blow.

Since the coils 14 are hollow, they are light in weight and flexibleenough to avoid any interference with the normal motion of the knee. Thecoils can be formed from either natural or synthetic rubber.Additionally, high plasticized plastics can also be used for forming thecoils. However, plastics must be used which do not become too brittle incold temperatures,

especially in view of the fact that the knee support of this inventioncan be used by football players who will be subjecting the same toextremely cold conditions. The cold problem is not involved when thecoils 14 are formed of rubber. Since the tubes from which the coils 14are formed are open at both ends, any air that is expelled by a blow tothe knee support will readily be replenished, thereby expanding thecoils to the form shown.

The sleeve 12, strap 16 and case 18 can be formed from any elasticmaterial known to the art. Thus, the fabric can be woven, knitted, andpossess either a one or two-way stretch. The degree of elasticity canalso be varied to suit the needs of the user. Although this inventionhas been described as being applicable to a knee support, it is to beunderstood that the device of this invention can be adapted for use withany joint, such as the elbow, wrist or ankle.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate myinvention, that others may, by applying current or future knowledge,adopt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A knee support comprising an elastic sleeve and a plurality ofshockabsorbing means secured on said sleeve, said shock absorbing meanseach comprising a coil of hollow rubber tubing.

2. The knee support of claim 1 wherein the rubber tubing forming saidcoil has at least one end thereof partially constricted, saidconstriction promoting a controlled release of air from said rubbertubing when pressure is applied against said rubber tubing.

3. The knee support of claim 1 wherein said plurality of coils is spacedwhereby said coils will surround the patella when said knee support isplaced over the knee.

4. The knee support of claim 3 wherein four coils of rubber tubing areprovided, with each pair of said coils being formed from a single lengthof rubber tubing, with a length of rubber tubing passing between eachcoil of said pair, said coils being secured to said sleeve with saidlengths of tubing extending diagonally to each other and crossing eachother in the area of said patella.

5. The knee support of claim 4 wherein both ends of each tube formingsaid coils are partially constricted, with each of said ends beingpositioned in the center of one of the coils of each pair, wherebyrelease of air from said tubes is controlled when the tubes aresubjected to an impact.

6. The knee support of claim 1 and further including an elastic casingover said coils.

7. The knee support of claim 6 wherein the tension on said elasticcasing is adjustable.

8. The knee support of claim 7 wherein said elastic casing includes alongitudinally extending opening formed therein,

and the means for adjusting the tension on said casing comprises lacingreceived in eyelet strips which are positioned on both sides of saidlongitudinally extending opening.

9. The knee support of claim 1 and further inc uding elastic strappingwrapped around said coils, said elastic strapping being secured to saidsleeve, and a casing secured over said elastic strapping, said casingbeing formed from an elastic material.

10. The knee support of claim 9 and further including means foradjusting the tension on said casing.

1. A knee support comprising an elastic sleeve and a plurality ofshock-absorbing means secured on said sleeve, said shock absorbing meanseach comprising a coil of hollow rubber tubing.
 2. The knee support ofclaim 1 wherein the rubber tubing forming said coil has at least one endthereof partially constricted, said constriction promoting a controlledrelease of air from said rubber tubing when pressure is applied againstsaid rubber tubing.
 3. The knee support of claim 1 wherein saidplurality of coils is spaced whereby said coils will surround thepatella when said knee support is placed over the knee.
 4. The kneesupport of claim 3 wherein four coils of rubber tubing are provided,with each pair of said coils being formed from a single length of rubbertubing, with a length of rubber tubing passing between each coil of saidpair, said coils being secured to said sleeve with said lengths oftubing extending diagonally to each other and crossing each other in thearea of said patella.
 5. The knee support of claim 4 wherein both endsof each tube forming said coils are partially constricted, with each ofsaid ends being positioned in the center of one of the coils of eachpair, whereby release of air from said tubes is controlled when thetubes are subjected to an impact.
 6. The knee support of claim 1 andfurther including an elastic casing over said coils.
 7. The knee supportof claim 6 wherein the tension on said elastic casing is adjustable. 8.The knee support of claim 7 wherein said elastic casing includes alongitudinally extending opening formed therein, and the means foradjusting the tension on said casing comprises lacing received in eyeletstrips which are positioned on both sides of said longitudinallyextending opening.
 9. The knee support of claim 1 and further includingelastic strapping wrapped around said coils, said elastic strappingbeing secured to said sleeve, and a casing secured over said elasticstrapping, said casing being formed from an elastic material.
 10. Theknee support of claim 9 and further including means for adjusting thetension on said casing.